Well...crappy day...waiting to find out if my dad's ok...

[nickinSTL]

I got an email from my mom this morning, saying that my dad was in the hospital after vomiting large amounts of blood. They called 911, had him taken to the ER, where he threw up again, then had a tube stuck down his throat...through his nose, and the blood suctioned out...the bleeding was stopped by about 9pm, and they were supposed to do an endoscopy at noon today (EST).

My parents don't own a cell phone, so unless he's in imminent danger, I won't hear until my mom gets home...with or without Dad. The ER doc apparently thought he'd go home tonight or tomorrow, but...I'm sure that'll depend on the results of the tests.

So...I've been sitting around at work all day worrying, and now I'm home and waiting for an email or phone call...

(oh, and it's never a great idea to look up serious symptoms on WebMD) :scared:

[SallyMander]

1. I hope it all turns out OK

and that he gets to go home soon! :hug:

[Shakespeare]

2. Do you know which hospital he's in?

You should be able to call and either speak to him or your mom (in his room), or someone at the nurse's station who can give you a report on his condition (you're immediate famiily, so they should talk to you without a lot of hassle).

[nickinSTL]

3. no, I don't...

I could find out which one is closest to where they live, but it would just be a guess.

I won't be able to find out for sure until I hear from my mom...and for all I know, he's out by now...I expect it'll take a little time for them to get home and get settled before contacting us.

[Shakespeare]

6. Well, I hope everything turns out fine.

I can imagine how worried you must be; my thoughts and best wishes are yours.

[Suich]

4. Sorry you're going through this, nick.

Hopefully, you'll get good news from your mom soon! And stay away from WebMD!

[KitchenWitch]

5. WebMD is teh evil.

I have had myself convinced that I had Ebola Zaire looking up shit on WebMD.

Sorry to hear about your dad. Hope there is good news soon.

[nickinSTL]

7. thanks to everyone who's posted...

I'm still waiting...

sigh.

[harmonicon]

8. try calling the hospital

The last time that my Dad was taken to emergency, I called the hospital and was able to get through to him.

[nickinSTL]

11. see #3

I don't know what hospital he's in...best I could do is guess based on what hospital is closest.

[harmonicon]

12. oh, geez, I'm sorry

I hope you hear from them soon.

[dgibby]

9. Is he on any meds?

Stuff like aspirin, advil, etc? Gastrointestional bleeding can be a complication from those type of meds. Hope he's ok. I doubt he'll be going home today if it was a large amt. of blood loss. They'd probably keep him at least one night, maybe give him blood and make sure he's stopped bleeding. Of course, it will depend on his blood count and what the endoscopy shows, as well as if the bleeding stops. Good luck to you and your dad. Sounds like they know what they're doing at the hosp.(I'm a ret. RN, btw).:hug:

[nickinSTL]

10. he doesn't do aspirin or advil...

we learned our lesson about that when my mom had problems about 25 years ago due to aspirin...

he DOES have Barrett's esophagus, though, which I suspect might be related.

[nickinSTL]

13. Just talked to my mom...my dad's doing better

turns out he was sick and throwing up, and since he has esophageal problems due to reflux, the vomiting caused some tears in his esophagus. The doc fixed the tears during the endoscopy, and Dad's feeling much better. They expect him to go home tomorrow, as long as nothing more happens.

[emilyg]

15. Good news.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. That IS good news!

Hopefully he will continue to improve...

:hug:

[applegrove]

14. So sorry. That must be very worrisome.

[nickinSTL]

17. man, it never ends...

my dad didn't go home when we expected...first, his blood count wasn't where they wanted it, so they kept him another night...then, his appetite wasn't good, so they kept him for observation...then, the gastro doc came in to see him again, rushed him off to get an ultrasound of his gall bladder (I guess they didn't find anything), and said that his lack of appetite is an indication that there's still some bleeding, so they'll have to do another endoscopy to find and repair more tears.

So, we still don't know when he'll be released. sigh.

[nickinSTL]

18. ok, finally have some resolution...

somewhat.

Dad's back home, feeling better, eating, blood count's up.

But...he's got gallstones, so he feels bad if he has a meal with too much fat - that'll have to be taken care of, AND he has an abdominal aneurysm, which is small, but needs to be monitored, and repaired if it gets too big.

great. :sarcasm:

[graywarrior]

19. Geeze, that sounds intense.

I seriously hope he's gonna be alright.